Hamilton Inlet

[Image:HamiltonInlet 2006.PNG|thumb|250px|Hamilton Inlet from the ferry between Cartwright and Happy Valley (2006)]
Hamilton Inlet is a fjord-like inlet of Groswater Bay on the Labrador coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Together with Lake Melville, it forms its province's largest estuary, extending over inland to Happy Valley-Goose [Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador|Happy Valley-Goose Bay] and primarily draining the Churchill River and Naskaupi River watersheds. Lake Melville is generally considered a part of Hamilton Inlet and extends west of the deep, narrow passage at the community of Rigolet.

Names

It was given its present name in honour of Charles Hamilton, commodore-governor of Newfoundland in the early 1800s and former namesake of the inlet's affluent, the Hamilton River. Inclusive of Groswater Bay, it has also been known as Ivucktoke ; Eskimo or Esquimaux Bay ; and St Louis Bay.

History

In 1586, it was the scene of an Inuit attack on the expedition of John Davis which killed two and wounded others.